Busy weekend with the kids. Swimming, rock climbing, ice skating, horse drawn carriage ride - all free as part of Bellingham's New Year events, always nice for the strapped family!

N still doesn't like wearing his glasses - hope it'll all be better when he can finally get contacts.

M has to wear glasses now as well, but apparently only when he's at school...

Life continues to chug along. The kids are getting pretty excited about Christmas. They'll be spending the 24th and 25th with me, and we're going down to my sister's on the 24th, but they want to spend the 25th just with me.

School continues to go fairly well for them, though M especially doesn't like a lot of it. Both N & M have to get glasses.

After 11 and 8 years, respectively, of unschooling/homeschooling, the kids are experiencing their first day of public school today. H just wants to be a Mama, rather than a Mama/Teacher. It has always been a big challenge for her, and I've always maintained that since the onus of the teaching burden has been on her that if she ever felt she needed to cease homeschooling that I would support her decision.

And I have.

But I still have my own worries and hang-ups about public school. I'm just hoping that the kid's experience is better than mine - more akin to H's. S was very chipper this morning, but N&M were more glum. They can't be in the same classroom, which is really bumming M out, and they can't wear hats, which is bumming N out, who is trying to grow his hair out.

Anyway. More big changes. I'm staying positive.

The kids continue to be one of the few experiences that truly bring happiness into my life. N,M & S are still into making movies, both stop motion and live action - they have some great ideas and are having a lot of fun.

S is trying to figure out what food she may be allergic to - ruled out dairy and now on to soy...

Saw The Simpson's Movie with them last weekend - it's always fun to go to the theatre with them.

N has decided not to learn playing guitar for the time being - or at least, not to take classes. He still wants to keep his guitar, for which I'm happy - he'll likely pick it up again at some point. M also told me he wants to keep his drum set.

S's birthday is coming up - she's very excited. So am I! Jazzz piano lessons for her coming up!

The kids and H are down in Oregon till next week for P's birthday. I really miss them.

The kid's enjoyed their time at camp last week.

HD's bachelor party is tomorrow night - should be fun.

Lost my ring yesterday - totally bummed. At some point it just fell off my finger! :(

It has been really hot in Bellingham! Up into the 80's and higher. I finally got a pool key and the kids have come over a few times this week to go swimming. If it works out for all of us I've let them know that they can come over anytime to jump in the pool. It's only open from mid-June through sometime in September, so we should make the most of it while we can. We've been having a lot of fun in it - S generally stays in the shallow end, N&M in the deep end, and I swim back and forth, trying to split my time with all of them. The boys really like jumping in, and S enjoys making up all kinds of games to play. Her current fave is being a dog and playing fetch with various pool toys.

The kids and I went raspberry and strawberry picking with AC last Sunday. It was overcast that morning, which made the picking easier on us. We got about 20 lbs of raspberries and a big bowl full of strawberries. Then I finally racked the lambic onto the raspberries later that day. It'll be ready to bottle in 6 months, by which time it'll have been in the works for 2 1/2 years! I really hope it turns out well. It's been bubbling away as the yeast consumes the sugars from the raspberries, giving off a great raspberry scent from the airlock. I'm a little concerned with how hot it's been and how that might effect the fermentation, and have been thinking about moving it down to the basement storage area. I have to do some research on that today.

H's Mom is in town, and the kids have been attending Animals as Natural Therapy camp this week, riding and caring for horses and other animals. They're going on a trail ride today, and seem pretty excited about it! Hopefully they'll be able to come over for a swim this afternoon.

N&M are 11!

They are very excited, as is S. I baked mini chocolate cakes for them, and gave them both a Nintendo Gameboy Advance DS - exactly what they asked for.

They were very pleased with their gifts. It's a sunny day, which they're spending with their friends.

They are such wonderful boys - I feel fortunate to be a part of their lives.

The kids gave me a basket with tea, chocolate and crystallized ginger in it as a birthday present. Then we went to the Strawberry Festival at Boxx Berry Farm, where we had free strawberry sundaes and the kids took a ride around the fields on a "train" pulled by a tractor.

If the weather had been better I'd planned on taking them for a hike up to the observatory on Sehome hill, but I'll have to save that for another time.

39 now.

S's dance recital went well - it was great to be able to see her perform on stage. She was very happy. I went up to the stage at the end to pick her up, and bought some sunflowers for her. M&N didn't want to stay for the second half, so I drove them and Grandpa G back to HQ instead.

The next day N,M & S and I all went out for ice cream at Mallard's, and then they went down to OR for a week.

They returned in time for Father's Day, though. We watched cartoons in the morning, went to La Fiamma for lunch, and then back to Mallards. Then we watched some movies, did some drawings and continued reading The Golden Compass, which we're all really enjoying.

I'm planning on taking them for a hike up to the Sehome Hill Arboretum this Saturday. DG told me that there's an observatory up there too - hopefully we'll find it, and the weather will be nice!

S is very, very excited about her upcoming dance recital this Friday. She's counting down the days until her dress rehearsal and then the performance. She's as excited as she is around Christmas time, or her birthday. I'm looking forward to seeing her on stage again - she's so cute.

H's parents are coming up for the performance, and then H and the kids are going down to OR for the week :( - but they'll be back in time for Father's Day!

N&M&S drew a bunch of cool pictures last night - my refridgerator is already almost covered over with them. They sure are loving kids.

Went to Locust Beach on Sunday with the kids. It was a beautiful, warm day. Someone gave them little seashells that had been turned into mice sculptures - he said his Grandparents made them, and he always carried some around to give out to kids.

I think N,M & S had fun....

We finished reading Where the Red Fern Grows and started The Golden Compass, which we're all enjoying a lot.

Sure wish I could see them more often.

Have the kids all weekend. Should be fun, especially if the weather stays so nice. They were a bit disappointed to find out that the pool won't open until mid June....

N&M are very excited about their upcoming birthday - only one more month!

T/Th & every other Fri-Sun. That's it?

Not happy.

Went swimming with the kids on Saturday. We had a lot of fun. The boys really like going off the diving board, and all three of them enjoy the water slide, of course! I played in the water with them, and even went down the slide and off the board.

I feel a lot more comfortable now that they are all better swimmers. S still feels uncertain and likes me to be with her (which is fine with me). N&M could use some more practice as well, but they are fine in deep water.

I'm really hoping I can afford to get them all into more lessons this summer...

Well, it's official now, so I'm posting it here. I've been hired as a Web Usability Designer at PeaceHealth here in Bellingham. My last day at WWU will be Friday the 13th(!) this month, and I start at PH the following Monday.

I'm really looking forward to this job. It will be challenging, meaningful and interesting work, and pays really well too. I'll be working with my friend Dawn, the only other usability person at PH right now.

It took me almost exactly one year after graduating from UW to get this job. I'm pretty sure I could have got another sooner if I'd been willing to look outside Bellingham, but we've decided to stay here for the long-term, and this job will certainly help with that goal.

H and the kids are down in Oregon visiting her family for Spring Break. I sure miss them!

The article I co-wrote with Dawn about mashups will be published in the June issue of Searcher. I'm thinking of working on one about online reputation management next.

Got offered a job today! More details to follow when it's more "official", i.e. a written rather than verbal offer.

But, it's a solid offer. This will help a lot.

I'm pretty excited, and getting more so by the moment....

Had fun with the kids today. Went to the Bagelry and then finished another book (Say Cheese, Medusa).

Playing chess. Kinda annoyed, I'm not playing very well.

Went to a dog agility trials/show at the Northwest Fairgrounds in Lynden last Saturday with the kids. It was inside the horse arena, but it was very cold and raining/snowing heavily outside. We lasted almost two hours. Bought sandwiches, burritos and hot chocolate for lunch. Got to see all of the smallest dogs go through the course before we were ready to leave. We were sitting in bleachers, up at the top. There were a lot of people there, several spectators and families sitting below us. Everyone was quietly watching except for N, M & S. They were chattering away animatedly like a trio of starlings. It was kind of funny and very cute, though I did feel self-conscious about how much noise my kids were making. I tried not to shush them too much - just wanted them to be aware of other people around them.

After that we went to the theater at Bellis Fair mall to see Bridge to Teribithia. The last time we went it was sold out, but that gave us some extra time to finish the book. As we were walking into the mall two girls, maybe around 12, both with long blond hair and probably sisters, ran up to N all excited and asked if they could get their picture taken with him. His hair is short, spiky and very red right now. N said "oookay" and looked a little freaked about, but smiled through his blush and let them flank him as a friend of theirs took the pic with a cell phone. Apparently they had seen N the night before while ice skating! M&S and I thought it was pretty funny. The movie was OK, though we were there so early we had to sit through all the commercials before the previews.

It was nice to hang out with them.

Hard times.

Taking it one hour at a time.

Hurting. Trying to adjust.

Still looking for a librarian job. Still want to stay in Bellingham, especially as H's business continues to grow succesfully. It would be unfair to disrupt that, I think.

Paul and I are started on an article about the Digital Commons.

I have a couple ideas for essays, one about ice cream, and one about "bad guys (and gals)". Asked Eric S. if he'd help me with the historical research aspects of the speed article.

BQ at Searcher sounds interested in both a mashups and visualization of information article. I need to solidify a proposal with her and get a deadline. Also am thinking about asking Dawn if she'd like to work on one of these with me.

The kids are all doing well, enjoying homeschool. They're really into Astro Boy and Bionicles right now.

H is juding a play at the Bellingham Theater Guild tonight, and performs with A Few Good Women next week.

Allen and my Ray Harryhausen interview has been submitted to Jeff's Habits of Waste, and will include a video clip of Harryhausen. I'm thinking about uploading the whole interview onto YouTube as well.